Supporting mechanism for doors and other objects.



E. MGGLURE.

SUPPORTING MECHANISM FOR DOORS AND OTHER OBJECTS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 13, 1911.

Patented Mar.5, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0-,WASHINQTQN. D; c

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD MCCLURE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 FRANKLIN 1?.

SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SUPPORTING MECHANISM FOR DOORS AND OTHER OBJECTS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD MCCLURE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Supporting Mechanism for Doors and other Objects, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to supporting mechanism for doors, gates and other objects, and particularly to supporting mechanism of that class, wherein the object supported has a bodily movement in a straight line in its own plane. Sliding doors, particularly elevator doors, car doors and the like, in accordance with the common practice, are hung upon a track by means of door hangers containing rollers or other antifriction bearing devices, but such devices are noisy and have more or less friction that must be overcome in moving the door from one position to another.

One object of this invention is to eliminate noise and to reduce friction to a minimum.

Another object is to provide supporting mechanism whereby the door or other object is sustained from fixed fulorums, but capable of being moved in a straight line in its own plane.

Another object is to provide a door or other object with supporting mechanism fulcrumed upon fixed pivots and having means for converting the swinging motion of the mechanism into a rectilinear movement of the object sustained.

' WVith these objects in view, the invention consists in supporting mechanism carried by fixed pivots and provided with motion converting devices arranged to give a rectilinear movement to the door or other object sustained by the mechanism.

The invention further consists in the several novel features hereinafter set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The invent-ion is clearly illustrated in the drawing furnished herewith, in which- Figure 1 is a face view of a fragment of an elevator inclosure, and a door, showing one form of my improved supporting mechanism used for movably supporting the door, Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, with the door closed, Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, with the door Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 13, 1911.

Patented Mar. 5,1912.

Serial No. 659,913.

partly open, and Fig. A is a face view of a modified form of the invention showing its application to a pair of oppositely moving doors.

In the embodiment of the invention chosen to illustrate its application, I have shown it as applied to elevator doors such as are commonly used for closing the doorways in elevator wells and in the drawing furnished herewith, a door A, is shown as movably mounted upon an inclosure B, by a simple form of the supporting mechanism C. The door is arranged to close a doorway Z), in the inclosure B, but is capable of being moved to a position behind said inclosure to open the doorway. Longitudinal guideways are preferably provided for the door at its top and bottom to prevent accidental lateral motion thereof and said guideways are shown as formed in a horizontally extending bar 6 secured to the inclosure above the door, and in the floor or sill 5 The door may have suflicient play in said guideways to prevent danger of its binding against the walls thereof.

In the embodiment of the invention as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a pair of equal length links 10, 10*, are arranged adjacent to one face of the door and each pivotally connected thereto as at 11, 11, said pivots being in horizontal alinement with each other and spaced apart a distance equal to or approximately equal to the width of the doorway, or equal to the distance of travel of the door. In the form shown in said figures the links are pivoted to the door near its lower edge, whereas in the form shown, in Fig. 4, said links are pivoted to the door at its upper end, and, if desired, the mechanism shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 may be. inverted so that the pivotal connection between the links 10, 10%, and the door is at its top. Said links project toward the opposite end of the door and their other ends are pivotally connected as at 10, 10, to an oscillatory member 12, fulcrumed between its ends upon a fixed pivot 12*, comprising a bolt, pin or like expedient carried by the inclosure. In the particular arrangement shown, the fulcrum of the bar 1.2, is located at a point distant from a line passing through the pivots 11, 11 equal to the distance between said pivots 11, 11 and is arranged adjacent to one edge of the door opening, so that when the door is closed,

as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, a right angle triangle is formed by the pivots 11, 11, 12. The pivots 10, 10 are equidistant from the fulcrum 12 and in the form shown, the distance between said pivots 10, 10 is one-half the distance between the pivots 11, 11, and the distance between the two pivots of each link is determined by the distance from the pivot 11, or 11, to the pivot 10, or 10, farthest removed from the pivot 11, or 11*, when either of the latter pivots is in vertical alinement with the fulcrum 12 and the pivots 10, 10 or in other words, the distance between either pivot point 11, 11 and the pivot 10 or 10, farthest removed therefrom when said bar lies in a horizontal line. The links are preferably kinked or bent back as at 13, 13, to permit the links to pass the dead center between the pivots when either bar 10 or 10 is in an upright position as otherwise said links would strike the support for the bar 12. The necessity of having the kinks or bends in the links may, however, be avoided by making the doorway of less width than the distance between the pivots 11, 11 and limiting the movement of the door to less than the distance between said pivots. To give a rectilinear movement to the door, a third link 14, is provided, which is ful crumed as at 14*, upon a fixed pivot, consisting of a pin or other pivotal supporting device carried by the inclosure. The fulcrum 14 is located in a horizontal line running through the fulcrum 12, and at a point distant from said fulcrum equal to one-half the distance between the pivots 11, 11, and the other end of said link 14, is pivotally connected, as at 14 with one of the links 10, 10 at a point midway between the pivots at its ends.

It is to be observed that the door is sus tained from two fixed fulcrums, through the instrumentality of the various members of the supporting mechanism which convert the oscillatory movement of the members into a rectilinear movement of the door.

In operation, the members of the supporting mechanism assume the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, when the door is closed; that is, the bar 12, assiunes an upright position, the link 10, assumes an upright position extending from its lower pivot to its pivotal connection with the bar 12*, the bar 10, assumes an oblique position from its lower pivot to its pivotal conneotion with the lower end of the bar 12, and the link 14, assumes an oblique position from its fixed fulcrtun 14, to its pivotal connection with the link 10. The door being slid from left to right, as viewed in Fig. 1, the link 10, acts to swing the bar 12, upward and around in the direction of the arrow :22, and the link 10, acts to turn the bar downward in the direction of the arrow y. The link 14, swings down in the direction of the arrow 2, and acts in conjunction with the bar 12, and link 10, to maintain the pivot point 11, in one and the same straight horizontal line. The pivot point 11, of the link 10, is caused to move in the same straight line traversed by the pivot 11*, by reason of the pivotal connections between the link, bar and door, and their locations relative to each other. Said point 11, can only occupy positions coincident with the intersections of arcs struck from the pivots 10, 11*. The door therefore moves in a straight line in its own plane parallel with the line traversed by the points 11, 11.

In the form shown in Fig. 4, two sets of instrumentalities like that shown in Fig. 1 are employed, one for each door A A and motion reversing mechanism is employed between the two sets of instrumentalities, whereby the doors are caused to move in directions opposite to each other. In this case the supporting mechanism is illustrated as located above the door and doorway and in addition to the third link 14, each set of supporting mechanism C, has an additional link 14, fulcrumed upon a fixed pivot supported by the inclosure and pivotally connected at its other end with a link 10. Any simple form of motion reversing mechanism may be employed between the two instrumentalities. I have shown a simple form comprising a rock bar 15, fulcrumed upon a stationary or fixed pivot 16, and connected at its ends with the links 14, 14, by means of. links 17. It is perfectly obvious that whenever one door, for instance the door A is moved in one direction, thereby swinging the link 14, con nected therewith, upon its fulcrum in one direction, that the link 17, will be moved in the corresponding direction, thus swinging the rock bar 15, upon its fulcrum, moving the opposite bar 17, in the opposite direction and consequently swinging the link 14, of the other supporting mechanism in a direction opposite to that of the direction of movement of the other link 14, thereby causing the door carried by said mechanism to move in a direction opposite to the direction of the movement of the first named door.

I realize that various alterations and modifications of this device are possible without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I do not therefore desire to limit myself to the exact form of construction shown and described.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Supporting mechanism of the class described, comprising a pair of links, each pivotally connected at one of its ends with the object to'be sustained, and at fixed points on said object, and two oscillatory members, one of which is fulcrumed between its ends, upon a fixed pivot, and pivotally connected, at points on opposite sides of its fulcrum, to the other ends of said links, the other of said oscillatory members being fulcrumed at one end upon a fixed pivot, and at its other end to one of said links at a point between its ends.

2. Supporting mechanism of the class described, comprising a pair of equal length links, each pivotally connected at one end with the object to be sustained, an oscillatory member fulcrumed between its ends upon a fixed pivot and pivotally connected at points equidistant from its fulcrum, to the other ends of said links, and a third link fulcrumed upon a fixed point and pivotally connected to one of said pair of links.

3. Supporting mechanism of the class described, comprising a pair of equal length links, each pivotally connected at one end with the object to be sustained, said pivots being arranged in a line parallel with the path of travel of the object sustained, an oscillatory member, fulcrumed between its ends upon a fixed pivot, located at a point distant from astraight line passing through said pivots on said-object, equal to the distance between said pivots; the other ends of each link being pivotally connected to said oscillatory member at points thereon equidistant from its fixed fulcrum, the distance between the pivot pointof the links on said oscillatory member being one-half the distance between the pivot points of said links on the object sustained, and a third link fulcrumed upon a fixed pivot lying in a line running through the fulcrum of the oscillatory member and extending parallel with a line passing through the pivot points on the object carried, the free end of said third link being pivotally connected to one of said pair of links at a point midway between its pivot points on the door and oscillatory member.

l. Supporting mechanism of the class described, for sustaining two oppositely movable doors, comprising two sets of similar instrumentalities, each consisting of a pair of equal length links, each link pivotally connected at one end with one of the doors, an oscillatory member fulcrumed between its ends upon a fixed point, and pivotally connected at points equidistant from its fulcrum to the other ends of said links, and a third link fulcrumed upon a fixed point and pivotally connected to one of said links at a point midway between its pivot points on the door and bar, and motion reversing mechanism operatively connected to said two sets of instrumentalities.

5. The combination with an inclosure having a door opening therein, and guideways above and below said doorway, of a door movable in said guideways, a pair of equal length links each pivoted to said door near its side edges, an oscillatory bar fulcrumed between its ends upon said inclosure, near one side edge of said doorway, and at a point above the pivot points of the links on the door, equal to the distance between said pivot points, said links being pivoted to said bar at points thereon equidistant from its fulcrum, and at points distant from said fulcrum equal to one-fourth the distance between the pivot points of the links on the door, and a third link fulcrumed to said inclosure on a horizontalline passing through the fulcrum of the bar, and at a distance therefrom equal to one-half the distance between the pivot points of the links on the door, said third link being pivoted also to one link at a point midway between its pivotal connections with the bar and door.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, this 8th day of November 1911.

EDWARD Mo CLURE.

Witnesses ROBERT R. BARNITT, ANGELO J ESLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

